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The Unfinished Palazzo: Life, Love and Art in Venice
Commissioned in 1750, the Palazzo Venier was planned as a testimony to the power and wealth of a great Venetian family, but the fortunes of the Veniers waned during construction and the project was abandoned. Empty, unfinished, and decaying, the building was considered an eyesore until the early twentieth century, when it attracted and inspired three women at key moments in their lives: Luisa Casati, Doris Castlerosse, and Peggy Guggenheim. Their extraordinary, acclaimed story is now available in paperback.
Luisa Casati turned her home into an aesthete’s fantasy, where she hosted parties as extravagant and decadent as Renaissance court operas, spending small fortunes on her own costumes in her quest to become a “living work of art” and muse. Doris Castlerosse strove to make her mark in London and Venice during the glamorous interwar years, hosting film stars and royalty at glittering parties. In the postwar years, Peggy Guggenheim turned the Palazzo into a model of modernist simplicity that served as a home for her exquisite collection of modern art. Each vivid life story is accompanied by previously unseen materials from family archives, weaving an intricate history of these legendary art world eccentrics.
Luisa Casati turned her home into an aesthete’s fantasy, where she hosted parties as extravagant and decadent as Renaissance court operas, spending small fortunes on her own costumes in her quest to become a “living work of art” and muse. Doris Castlerosse strove to make her mark in London and Venice during the glamorous interwar years, hosting film stars and royalty at glittering parties. In the postwar years, Peggy Guggenheim turned the Palazzo into a model of modernist simplicity that served as a home for her exquisite collection of modern art. Each vivid life story is accompanied by previously unseen materials from family archives, weaving an intricate history of these legendary art world eccentrics.
408 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2017
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2803 people want to read
About the author
Judith Mackrell
16 books39 followersJudith Mackrell is a writer and dance critic for the Guardian. She lives in London with her husband and two sons.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 125 reviews
September 4, 2018
Abandoned once unfinished on Venice’s Grand Canal; “il palazzo non finite” was once an unloved guest among its opulent neighbours. Yet in the 20th century it played host to three unconventional women who would take the city by storm.
The staggeringly wealthy Marchesa Luisa Casati made her new home a belle époque fantasy and herself a living work of art; notorious British socialite Doris Castlerosse welcomes film stars and royalty to the glittering parties; and American heiress Peggy Guggenheim amassed a collection of modern art that draws visits from around the world.
This is an absolutely amazing book; in fact I am quite overwhelmed by it. The fact that three women during the 20th century could indeed have had such an impact on a palace previously owned by the Venier family when plans had been on hand to develop it to three floors. Whether finances were involved, or lack of an heir, is unknown but this never happened. All that was achieved was a single floor, two room deep palazzo.
When Luisa Casati took over the palazzo on a rental basis in 1910, this would last fourteen years, but then she had to be evicted as it was finally sold in 1924. The palazzo was a ruin when she took it over, with ivy everywhere on the outside, and the only intact section was the waterfront terrace. She did very little to the exterior but she converted the inside and had the most amazing parties that everyone in Venice talked about. She wasn’t there all the year but when she was, everyone had their gaze fixed on the palazzo.
Luisa’s mode in dressing was highly eccentric; she also had a menagerie of snakes, peacocks, a cheetah and albino birds which were painted to suit the occasion, and her personal dogs to name but a few. In fact she became so enamoured of her snakes that she often had one draped around her throat when she entertained. The most remarkable thing was that when she travelled to the United State for a visit, during the voyage her new snake escaped from its cage and rumour had it in third class that a young girl had been swallowed by a boa constrictor. Also when she strolled around Venice she had a cheetah, admittedly on a lead. She also had a faithful black servant, Garbi. There were many rumours involving Garbi especially as Luisa did not have her husband with her.
Luisa also had many lovers but the most notable was the poet/historian Gabriele D’Annunzia. Their relationship was quite amazing as well as their correspondence when they were not together. I loved it all! And also the artist August John, another of her lovers.
But the end of Luisa’s life was quite extraordinary. I confess I had to read the final sentence here several times.
All in all what Luisa achieved was remarkable and it would prove to be the photographer Man Ray, who would capture the essence and soul of this remarkable woman in a photo.
The second chatelaine, Doris Castlerosse, had been a girl from a south London suburb. She purchased the palazzo in 1936 and renovated all of it magnificently but although her parties were indeed famous, the war intervened in 1939 and she never returned. She had been looking for a title, even though having left the ranks of a shop girl and subsequently moving into the “professional mistress” status to help her financially. However, worried about getting older and losing her looks, she finally married the Irish Viscount Valentine Castlerosse. He adored Doris although it was not reciprocated and she continued to have many lovers throughout their marriage. I often wonder that whey did about birth control then or did they resort to abortions? They finally divorced but he continued to love her.
Doris’ memorable affairs were with Randolph Churchill, as well as his father Winston Churchill, who surprisingly enough painted two portraits of her. I always thought that he and his wife Clementine were inseparable but this proved not to be the case.
Regrettably the war intervened in 1939 and Doris went to the States and in the end it was due to Churchill that she managed to be repatriated from there to London.
But out of all of these three remarkable women, Peggy Guggenheim was the most impressive; another woman who believed that her money would last forever. She was constantly distressed about her nose as she had “inherited” that from her grandfather. When she finally came of age in control of her finances, the first thing she did was to have plastic surgery but that was in its infancy and the surgery failed and had to be stopped. She never forgot about that. Nevertheless, when Peggy purchased the palazzo in 1948 she transformed it miraculously and created the Peggy Guggenheim Collection which still welcomes many thousands of visitors every year.
The black and white images are superb and I could so easily go onto so many anecdotes about these three women. Suffice it to say, this work by Judith Mackrell is truly magnificent and I applaud her. I cannot even imagine the amount of time that she spent researching the wonderful book. Bravo! This is another one of those splendid books that one can just browse through from time to time as I like to do.
The staggeringly wealthy Marchesa Luisa Casati made her new home a belle époque fantasy and herself a living work of art; notorious British socialite Doris Castlerosse welcomes film stars and royalty to the glittering parties; and American heiress Peggy Guggenheim amassed a collection of modern art that draws visits from around the world.
This is an absolutely amazing book; in fact I am quite overwhelmed by it. The fact that three women during the 20th century could indeed have had such an impact on a palace previously owned by the Venier family when plans had been on hand to develop it to three floors. Whether finances were involved, or lack of an heir, is unknown but this never happened. All that was achieved was a single floor, two room deep palazzo.
When Luisa Casati took over the palazzo on a rental basis in 1910, this would last fourteen years, but then she had to be evicted as it was finally sold in 1924. The palazzo was a ruin when she took it over, with ivy everywhere on the outside, and the only intact section was the waterfront terrace. She did very little to the exterior but she converted the inside and had the most amazing parties that everyone in Venice talked about. She wasn’t there all the year but when she was, everyone had their gaze fixed on the palazzo.
Luisa’s mode in dressing was highly eccentric; she also had a menagerie of snakes, peacocks, a cheetah and albino birds which were painted to suit the occasion, and her personal dogs to name but a few. In fact she became so enamoured of her snakes that she often had one draped around her throat when she entertained. The most remarkable thing was that when she travelled to the United State for a visit, during the voyage her new snake escaped from its cage and rumour had it in third class that a young girl had been swallowed by a boa constrictor. Also when she strolled around Venice she had a cheetah, admittedly on a lead. She also had a faithful black servant, Garbi. There were many rumours involving Garbi especially as Luisa did not have her husband with her.
Luisa also had many lovers but the most notable was the poet/historian Gabriele D’Annunzia. Their relationship was quite amazing as well as their correspondence when they were not together. I loved it all! And also the artist August John, another of her lovers.
But the end of Luisa’s life was quite extraordinary. I confess I had to read the final sentence here several times.
All in all what Luisa achieved was remarkable and it would prove to be the photographer Man Ray, who would capture the essence and soul of this remarkable woman in a photo.
The second chatelaine, Doris Castlerosse, had been a girl from a south London suburb. She purchased the palazzo in 1936 and renovated all of it magnificently but although her parties were indeed famous, the war intervened in 1939 and she never returned. She had been looking for a title, even though having left the ranks of a shop girl and subsequently moving into the “professional mistress” status to help her financially. However, worried about getting older and losing her looks, she finally married the Irish Viscount Valentine Castlerosse. He adored Doris although it was not reciprocated and she continued to have many lovers throughout their marriage. I often wonder that whey did about birth control then or did they resort to abortions? They finally divorced but he continued to love her.
Doris’ memorable affairs were with Randolph Churchill, as well as his father Winston Churchill, who surprisingly enough painted two portraits of her. I always thought that he and his wife Clementine were inseparable but this proved not to be the case.
Regrettably the war intervened in 1939 and Doris went to the States and in the end it was due to Churchill that she managed to be repatriated from there to London.
But out of all of these three remarkable women, Peggy Guggenheim was the most impressive; another woman who believed that her money would last forever. She was constantly distressed about her nose as she had “inherited” that from her grandfather. When she finally came of age in control of her finances, the first thing she did was to have plastic surgery but that was in its infancy and the surgery failed and had to be stopped. She never forgot about that. Nevertheless, when Peggy purchased the palazzo in 1948 she transformed it miraculously and created the Peggy Guggenheim Collection which still welcomes many thousands of visitors every year.
The black and white images are superb and I could so easily go onto so many anecdotes about these three women. Suffice it to say, this work by Judith Mackrell is truly magnificent and I applaud her. I cannot even imagine the amount of time that she spent researching the wonderful book. Bravo! This is another one of those splendid books that one can just browse through from time to time as I like to do.
November 8, 2023
This book was a very pleasant surprise. I was looking for a decent book on the life of Marchesa Casati, and this was more than satisfactory, as it has plenty of information on her problems, portraits and parties. While I did not care much about Doris Castlerosse, reading about her was quite interesting, and the Peggy Guggenheim section was detailed enough for me to decide I know more than enough.
This is largely a Luisa Casati book; I think her story constitutes more than 40% of the book, with the Doris Castlerosse section wedged in between larger Casati and Guggenheim sections.
There are perhaps small differences of style between the sections, but this is understandable, given how different the heroines were. What struck me was how Luisa Casati's and Peggy Guggenheim's lives could be described as not dissimilar; both were rich (though the former fabulously so), both slept with artists, both tended to treat people instrumentally, both were horribly insensitive at times, both often ignored the needs of their own children, including not coming to their weddings. And yet the biographer is so clearly partial to Marchesa Casati, and makes Peggy Guggenheim seem unilikeable, saving some share of sympathy until the end of her life.
I can honestly recommend the audio version.
This is largely a Luisa Casati book; I think her story constitutes more than 40% of the book, with the Doris Castlerosse section wedged in between larger Casati and Guggenheim sections.
There are perhaps small differences of style between the sections, but this is understandable, given how different the heroines were. What struck me was how Luisa Casati's and Peggy Guggenheim's lives could be described as not dissimilar; both were rich (though the former fabulously so), both slept with artists, both tended to treat people instrumentally, both were horribly insensitive at times, both often ignored the needs of their own children, including not coming to their weddings. And yet the biographer is so clearly partial to Marchesa Casati, and makes Peggy Guggenheim seem unilikeable, saving some share of sympathy until the end of her life.
I can honestly recommend the audio version.
December 21, 2017
The Palazzo Venier dei Leoni in Venice – commissioned in 1750 but left unfinished – owes its revival and fame to the three extraordinary women who bought the palazzo and lived there at different times in the 20th Century: Luisa Casati, Doris Castlerosse and Peggy Guggenheim.
This true story is so strange, dramatic and engaging that sometimes it reads as fiction. However, the author thoroughly researched The Palazzo Venier. Judith Mackrell examined the State Archives of Venice and interviewed those with connections to Casati, Castlerosse and Guggenheim. Mackrell also gained access to family papers and photographs, conducted many interviews and consulted academic works and bibliographies about the three women who bought and restored the derelict palazzo.
‘The Unfinished Palazzo’ comes alive with true tales of these unconventional women. We see the Italian heiress, Luisa Casati strolling the streets of Venice at night, semi-naked in her leopard skin coat, with her pet cheetah on a jewel-studded leash.
Doris Castlerosse then overhauled the palazzo, while fighting bitterly with her brutal but wealthy husband. And when she died, Peggy Guggenheim took over, gutted the palazzo and eventually turned it into one of the most important modern art galleries in the world.
Although they were from different eras, all three women had something in common: they loved beautiful things and were entranced by the unique lifestyle, freedom and exoticism of Venice.
Luisa Casati’s parties, balls and dinners were the last word in decadence and she cultivated friendships with Europe’s most important creatives, writers and intellectuals.
London socialite, Doris Castlerosse – who possessed no real wealth of her own – managed admirably by marrying into money. Doris was an acknowledged beauty with a penchant for seducing both heterosexual and homosexual men. In later life she became very close to a rich coal-mining heiress. It was common knowledge, at the time, that some of Doris's conquests were keen on protecting her and helping her maintain the luxurious lifestyle she was addicted to. Winston Churchill became one of her closest confidants.
While Luisia Casati wanted to turn herself into a work of art, Penny Guggenheim inherited wealth and invested it in modern art. Along the way she also had a hell of a good time freely helping herself to several male artists, writers and creatives. For whatever Peggy wanted, she got.
And the time I’d finished reading this highly engaging book, I too wished that I could live in cosseted luxury - on the Grand Canal, in the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni.
This true story is so strange, dramatic and engaging that sometimes it reads as fiction. However, the author thoroughly researched The Palazzo Venier. Judith Mackrell examined the State Archives of Venice and interviewed those with connections to Casati, Castlerosse and Guggenheim. Mackrell also gained access to family papers and photographs, conducted many interviews and consulted academic works and bibliographies about the three women who bought and restored the derelict palazzo.
‘The Unfinished Palazzo’ comes alive with true tales of these unconventional women. We see the Italian heiress, Luisa Casati strolling the streets of Venice at night, semi-naked in her leopard skin coat, with her pet cheetah on a jewel-studded leash.
Doris Castlerosse then overhauled the palazzo, while fighting bitterly with her brutal but wealthy husband. And when she died, Peggy Guggenheim took over, gutted the palazzo and eventually turned it into one of the most important modern art galleries in the world.
Although they were from different eras, all three women had something in common: they loved beautiful things and were entranced by the unique lifestyle, freedom and exoticism of Venice.
Luisa Casati’s parties, balls and dinners were the last word in decadence and she cultivated friendships with Europe’s most important creatives, writers and intellectuals.
London socialite, Doris Castlerosse – who possessed no real wealth of her own – managed admirably by marrying into money. Doris was an acknowledged beauty with a penchant for seducing both heterosexual and homosexual men. In later life she became very close to a rich coal-mining heiress. It was common knowledge, at the time, that some of Doris's conquests were keen on protecting her and helping her maintain the luxurious lifestyle she was addicted to. Winston Churchill became one of her closest confidants.
While Luisia Casati wanted to turn herself into a work of art, Penny Guggenheim inherited wealth and invested it in modern art. Along the way she also had a hell of a good time freely helping herself to several male artists, writers and creatives. For whatever Peggy wanted, she got.
And the time I’d finished reading this highly engaging book, I too wished that I could live in cosseted luxury - on the Grand Canal, in the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni.
February 1, 2018
For anyone who has ever fallen in love with Venice and also been to the Guggenheim museum this is the only thing to read. One of the best books ever, not just on Venice, just magnificent. Hurry and read this one and fall in love all over again.
April 11, 2019
3.5 stars
This book is difficult to rate. On the one hand, I actually enjoyed reading it - it’s written quite nicely, the topic is surprisingly interesting and it’s also educational (I did not know anything about either the palazzo or the three women beforehand and now have the feeling that I learned a lot).
On the other hand, there are some things that bugged me. For one thing, just roughly 20% of the book are about the palazzo that inspired the book. This book is three biographies of three quite similar women who all lived in the same house for some time, and as they had quite interesting lives also before and after living in this palazzo, there is not much of the book left to deal with the house itself. For another, the timelines of the biographies are sometimes quite muddled, with time jumps forward and backwards that are difficult to keep up with. Also, the author refers to almost every person with their given name only - so keeping up with all the who’s who was tricky as well. Furthermore, the book’s back promised that the stories of these three women would tell “a lot about how women chose to live in the 20th century”, but given the amount of privilege (and money!) these women had, this book can at most tell us how very rich women could choose to live in that time.
This book is difficult to rate. On the one hand, I actually enjoyed reading it - it’s written quite nicely, the topic is surprisingly interesting and it’s also educational (I did not know anything about either the palazzo or the three women beforehand and now have the feeling that I learned a lot).
On the other hand, there are some things that bugged me. For one thing, just roughly 20% of the book are about the palazzo that inspired the book. This book is three biographies of three quite similar women who all lived in the same house for some time, and as they had quite interesting lives also before and after living in this palazzo, there is not much of the book left to deal with the house itself. For another, the timelines of the biographies are sometimes quite muddled, with time jumps forward and backwards that are difficult to keep up with. Also, the author refers to almost every person with their given name only - so keeping up with all the who’s who was tricky as well. Furthermore, the book’s back promised that the stories of these three women would tell “a lot about how women chose to live in the 20th century”, but given the amount of privilege (and money!) these women had, this book can at most tell us how very rich women could choose to live in that time.
September 3, 2018
Abandoned once unfinished on Venice’s Grand Canal; “il palazzo non finite” was once an unloved guest among its opulent neighbours. Yet in the 20th century it played host to three unconventional women who would take the city by storm.
The staggeringly wealthy Marchesa Luisa Casati made her new home a belle époque fantasy and herself a living work of art; notorious British socialite Doris Castlerosse welcomes film stars and royalty to the glittering parties; and American heiress Peggy Guggenheim amassed a collection of modern art that draws visits from around the world.
This is an absolutely amazing and mesmerizing book; in fact I am quite overwhelmed by it. The fact that three women during the 20th century could indeed have had such an impact on a palace previously owned by the Venier family when plans had been on hand to develop it to three floors. Whether finances were involved, or lack of an heir, is unknown but this never happened.
When Luisa Casati took the palazzo over on a rental basis in 1910, which lasted fourteen years, and then she had to be evicted as it was finally sold in 1920 and sold resold in1924. The palazzo was a ruin when she took it over, with ivy everywhere on the outside, and the only intact section was the waterfront terrace. She did very little to the exterior but she converted the inside and had the most amazing parties that everyone in Venice talked about. She wasn’t there all the year but when she was, everyone had their gaze on the palazzo. Her mode in dressing was highly eccentric; she also had a menagerie of snakes, peacocks, a cheetah and albino birds which were painted to suit the occasion, and her personal dogs to name but a few. In fact she became so enamoured of her snakes that she often had one draped around her throat when she entertained. The most remarkable thing was that when she went to the United States for a visit, her new snake escaped from its cage and rumour had it in third class that a young girl had been swallowed by a boa constrictor. Also when she strolled around Venice she had a cheetah, admittedly on a lead, either carried by her or her faithful black servant, Garbi. There were many rumours involving Garbi especially as Luisa did not have her husband with her.
Luisa also had many lovers but the most notable was the poet/historian/war hero Gabriele D’Annunzio. Their relationship was quite amazing as well as their correspondence when they were not together. I loved it all! And also the artist August John.
But the end of Luisa’s life was quite extraordinary. I confess I had to read the final sentence here several times.
All in all what Luisa achieved was remarkable and the black and white images portray this so well, especially the photo taken by Man Ray who appeared to capture the essence and soul of this remarkable woman.
The second chatelaine, Doris Castlerosse, had been a girl from a south London suburb. She purchased the palazzo in 1936 and renovated all of it magnificently but although her parties were indeed famous, the war intervened in 1939 and she never returned. She had been looking for a title, even though having left the ranks of a shop girl and subsequently moving into the “professional mistress” status to help her financially , worried about getting older and losing her looks, she finally married the Irish Viscount Valentine Castlerosse. He adored Doris although it was not reciprocated as she had many lovers. I often wonder that whey did about birth control then or did they resort to abortions? They finally divorced but he continued to love her. Doris’ memorable affairs were with Randolph Churchill, as well as his father Winston Churchill surprisingly enough who painted two portraits of her. I always thought that he and his wife Clementine were inseparable but this proved not to be the case.
Regrettably the war intervened in 1939 and Doris went to the States and it was due to Churchill that she managed to be repatriated from there to London.
But out of all of these three remarkable women, Peggy Guggenheim was the most impressive; another woman who believed that her money would last forever. She was constantly distressed about her nose as she had “inherited” that from her grandfather. When she finally came of age in control of her finances, the first thing she did was to have plastic surgery but that was in its infancy and the surgery failed and had to be stopped. She never forgot about that. Nevertheless, when Peggy purchased the palazzo in 1948 she transformed it miraculously and created the Peggy Guggenheim Collection which welcomes many thousands every year.
The black and white images are superb and I could so easily go into so many anecdotes about these three women. Suffice it to say, this work by Judith Mackrell is truly magnificent and I applaud her. I cannot even imagine the amount of time that she spent researching this wonderful book. Bravo! Another one of those splendid books that one can just browse through whenever as I like to do.
The staggeringly wealthy Marchesa Luisa Casati made her new home a belle époque fantasy and herself a living work of art; notorious British socialite Doris Castlerosse welcomes film stars and royalty to the glittering parties; and American heiress Peggy Guggenheim amassed a collection of modern art that draws visits from around the world.
This is an absolutely amazing and mesmerizing book; in fact I am quite overwhelmed by it. The fact that three women during the 20th century could indeed have had such an impact on a palace previously owned by the Venier family when plans had been on hand to develop it to three floors. Whether finances were involved, or lack of an heir, is unknown but this never happened.
When Luisa Casati took the palazzo over on a rental basis in 1910, which lasted fourteen years, and then she had to be evicted as it was finally sold in 1920 and sold resold in1924. The palazzo was a ruin when she took it over, with ivy everywhere on the outside, and the only intact section was the waterfront terrace. She did very little to the exterior but she converted the inside and had the most amazing parties that everyone in Venice talked about. She wasn’t there all the year but when she was, everyone had their gaze on the palazzo. Her mode in dressing was highly eccentric; she also had a menagerie of snakes, peacocks, a cheetah and albino birds which were painted to suit the occasion, and her personal dogs to name but a few. In fact she became so enamoured of her snakes that she often had one draped around her throat when she entertained. The most remarkable thing was that when she went to the United States for a visit, her new snake escaped from its cage and rumour had it in third class that a young girl had been swallowed by a boa constrictor. Also when she strolled around Venice she had a cheetah, admittedly on a lead, either carried by her or her faithful black servant, Garbi. There were many rumours involving Garbi especially as Luisa did not have her husband with her.
Luisa also had many lovers but the most notable was the poet/historian/war hero Gabriele D’Annunzio. Their relationship was quite amazing as well as their correspondence when they were not together. I loved it all! And also the artist August John.
But the end of Luisa’s life was quite extraordinary. I confess I had to read the final sentence here several times.
All in all what Luisa achieved was remarkable and the black and white images portray this so well, especially the photo taken by Man Ray who appeared to capture the essence and soul of this remarkable woman.
The second chatelaine, Doris Castlerosse, had been a girl from a south London suburb. She purchased the palazzo in 1936 and renovated all of it magnificently but although her parties were indeed famous, the war intervened in 1939 and she never returned. She had been looking for a title, even though having left the ranks of a shop girl and subsequently moving into the “professional mistress” status to help her financially , worried about getting older and losing her looks, she finally married the Irish Viscount Valentine Castlerosse. He adored Doris although it was not reciprocated as she had many lovers. I often wonder that whey did about birth control then or did they resort to abortions? They finally divorced but he continued to love her. Doris’ memorable affairs were with Randolph Churchill, as well as his father Winston Churchill surprisingly enough who painted two portraits of her. I always thought that he and his wife Clementine were inseparable but this proved not to be the case.
Regrettably the war intervened in 1939 and Doris went to the States and it was due to Churchill that she managed to be repatriated from there to London.
But out of all of these three remarkable women, Peggy Guggenheim was the most impressive; another woman who believed that her money would last forever. She was constantly distressed about her nose as she had “inherited” that from her grandfather. When she finally came of age in control of her finances, the first thing she did was to have plastic surgery but that was in its infancy and the surgery failed and had to be stopped. She never forgot about that. Nevertheless, when Peggy purchased the palazzo in 1948 she transformed it miraculously and created the Peggy Guggenheim Collection which welcomes many thousands every year.
The black and white images are superb and I could so easily go into so many anecdotes about these three women. Suffice it to say, this work by Judith Mackrell is truly magnificent and I applaud her. I cannot even imagine the amount of time that she spent researching this wonderful book. Bravo! Another one of those splendid books that one can just browse through whenever as I like to do.
July 19, 2018
Ladies who launch.
Judith Mackrell tells the stories of three 20th century women who refused to be circumscribed by the comfortable circumstances of their birth, launching themselves into wider society as creatures of their own design. Luisa Casati and Peggy Guggenheim were born into tremendous wealth but even the deeply middle-class Doris Castlerosse could easily have settled for a conventional existence. Instead, these women were not content to simply be ‘ladies who lunch’ and each of them used the Palazzo Venier in Venice at some point in their lives to help them realise their ambitions.
Luisa is perhaps the most contradictory character of the three: a curious blend of the desperately shy and the outrageously flamboyant, Luisa in this age would probably be considered on the spectrum. With her exotic garb, dangerous house pets and wild parties at the Palazzo, she saw herself as ‘a living work of art’.
Doris was determined to land herself a lord. She slept her way into high society and is perhaps most famous for her suspected affair with Winston Churchill. (This is covered in Mary S Lovell’s The Riviera Set and if you liked that book, you’ll almost certainly like this one.)
Peggy Guggenheim was part of the Manhattan’s Upper East Side Jewish elite, though at heart a Bohemian wannabe. When she bought the Palazzo in 1949, she transformed it from a half-finished shell into one of the most successful modern art museums in the world.
These three women had no qualms about flouting the conventions of their day, be they sexual, sartorial or financial. They loved attention, they loved Venice but above all they loved themselves – or so their self-centredness would seem to indicate - and the Palazzo Venier on the Grand Canal was the perfect launching pad. The moral, if there is one, might well be: If you want to get ahead, get a gondola. This is a tremendously interesting read, flawlessly written and highly recommended.
Judith Mackrell tells the stories of three 20th century women who refused to be circumscribed by the comfortable circumstances of their birth, launching themselves into wider society as creatures of their own design. Luisa Casati and Peggy Guggenheim were born into tremendous wealth but even the deeply middle-class Doris Castlerosse could easily have settled for a conventional existence. Instead, these women were not content to simply be ‘ladies who lunch’ and each of them used the Palazzo Venier in Venice at some point in their lives to help them realise their ambitions.
Luisa is perhaps the most contradictory character of the three: a curious blend of the desperately shy and the outrageously flamboyant, Luisa in this age would probably be considered on the spectrum. With her exotic garb, dangerous house pets and wild parties at the Palazzo, she saw herself as ‘a living work of art’.
Doris was determined to land herself a lord. She slept her way into high society and is perhaps most famous for her suspected affair with Winston Churchill. (This is covered in Mary S Lovell’s The Riviera Set and if you liked that book, you’ll almost certainly like this one.)
Peggy Guggenheim was part of the Manhattan’s Upper East Side Jewish elite, though at heart a Bohemian wannabe. When she bought the Palazzo in 1949, she transformed it from a half-finished shell into one of the most successful modern art museums in the world.
These three women had no qualms about flouting the conventions of their day, be they sexual, sartorial or financial. They loved attention, they loved Venice but above all they loved themselves – or so their self-centredness would seem to indicate - and the Palazzo Venier on the Grand Canal was the perfect launching pad. The moral, if there is one, might well be: If you want to get ahead, get a gondola. This is a tremendously interesting read, flawlessly written and highly recommended.
August 11, 2020
I finally finished The Unfinished Palazzo. (Sorry.)
I'm conflicted about this book. On one hand, it was incredibly interesting, on the other, I still was a bit bored while reading. It wasn't as fascinating to me as her previous book. On another hand, reading about these ladies being whoever they goddamn well pleased was empowering (even as they were terrible)! On the other other hand, some of the language around abuse suffered (especially by Peggy) was...disempowering, to say the least. It was difficult to say if this was something the author herself believed, or if she was recounting something she thought the people she was discussing believed.
So, conflicted. Three stars doesn't feel quite right, but four stars certainly doesn't. It'll be a three for now, anyway.
Still looking forward to her next book!
I'm conflicted about this book. On one hand, it was incredibly interesting, on the other, I still was a bit bored while reading. It wasn't as fascinating to me as her previous book. On another hand, reading about these ladies being whoever they goddamn well pleased was empowering (even as they were terrible)! On the other other hand, some of the language around abuse suffered (especially by Peggy) was...disempowering, to say the least. It was difficult to say if this was something the author herself believed, or if she was recounting something she thought the people she was discussing believed.
So, conflicted. Three stars doesn't feel quite right, but four stars certainly doesn't. It'll be a three for now, anyway.
Still looking forward to her next book!
March 9, 2020
This book is a triple-layered macaroon, and I’m so glad I finished it on International Women’s Day!
A glimpse into three eras of insanely rich women’s passions - and all the attendant wardrobe, interior design, and celebrity you could want. READ THIS BOOK!
A glimpse into three eras of insanely rich women’s passions - and all the attendant wardrobe, interior design, and celebrity you could want. READ THIS BOOK!
August 30, 2020
Apasionante y riguroso paseo por la vida de las tres mujeres excepcionales que han sido dueñas del Palazzo Venier dei Leoni. Lleno de chascarrillos y anécdotas de artistas, socialités y figuras clave de la primera mitad del siglo XX.
July 27, 2018
I understand the reasons for putting this book together: the three women who occupied the Palazzo Vernier, but perhaps too much was not about Venice and the palazzo itself. The three women are presented as all very self-obsessed, with complicated lives, and this comes across with approval. I'd wanted more about the building and its place in the way Venice worked. I got a bit bored with the "family life" of Peggy G.
February 23, 2025
bellísimo libro. preciosa traducción. fascinantes mujeres. (structure ternaire)
September 9, 2021
This is a fascinating book about three troubled women who were well ahead of their time. It’s well researched without being bogged down with detail. I highly recommend.
October 9, 2019
I will set aside two key thoughts in writing this review:
First: Although the book is titled "The Unfinished Palazzo", the content of the book speaks very little to the palazzo itself and, indeed, the palazzo is completed by the second of the three women the book profiles. I understand that the lack of completion when bought by Luisa Casati, the first 20th century female owner profiled here, is what put the palazzo on its trajectory, but it is still an irksome title for the book.
Second: The three women of focus are completely abhorrent, selfish and materialistic social climbers who are wholly unlikable. That said, I try not to conflate unlikable characters and a badly written book.
That said, the book has several flaws that are hard to overlook.
(1) The author makes conclusions about the health and psychiatric state of one of the women--the interjection makes a reader question the author's qualification to speculate on these areas: Mackrell is, afterall, a non-fiction writer and the dance critic for The Guardian. She is not a medical professional. It may be that medical professionals were consulted, but its disconcerting none-the-less. What's more, that type of leap toward a medical diagnosis doesn't really happen with any other figure identified in the book--whether primary or secondary.
(2) The recounting of these biographies feels very tedious and clinical at times. The author could have cut out some of the affairs, or, at the very least, condensed them. This may have also helped with the pacing of the novel.
(3) Somewhat of an extension of #2, the cadence of the novel makes it feel drawling. Understanding that biographies are difficult because you are dealing with the life (or, in this case lives) at hand, rather than a life in a fiction novel where you can create peaks and troughs, I would have liked to feel more rhythm in the stories. Peggy Guggenheim, for example, was frustratingly tedious.
(4) It sometimes felt like the author was consulting a thesaurus; words were unnecessarily complex. What's more, the language felt bloated and, many times, full sentences or paragraphs could have easily been stripped out to make for a more enjoyable read.
(5) There were several spots where the author hopped around in the chronology. I'm sure this was to group thoughts or behaviors, but, if that was the case, the intention was lost because it was jarring to be reading and then realize you were hurled back several years and you needed to reorient yourself in the subject's life.
(6) The author takes several pieces of her own knowledge for granted. There are passages in other languages, for example, that she never bothers to translate into English for the reader--this feels especially odd, since the book was written first in English. Also, some historic figures are mentioned, but not much detail is given about them. I found myself bouncing between the book and the internet trying to do enough research on some obscure name mentioned thinking that it might be significant in the grand scheme of the story: sometimes it was, sometimes it was not.
(7) To this reader, the author makes several projections about what each woman "may have" felt or done. She uses phrases that make it abundantly clear that there is no real evidence for some of the claims, including some affairs, behaviors, reactions, etc. Some passages start off: "One could imagine her...[doing something]." This is agitating and has the added misfortune of undercutting some of the other details of the profile: I found myself frequently asking: "well, how true is that?"
(8) To help make the biographies feel like a more wholly accurate representation of the truth, I would have liked to have seen more excerpts from journals or letters in full, rather than four-to-five word snippets. This may have also helped with the cadence of the book.
Overall, a reader can learn a fair amount from the book--even if he or she is required to supplement nuggets of information with additional research along the way. It's a good primer on early 20th century art. It also adds some alternative perspectives to WWI and WWII. The writer has clearly also done a great deal of research and enjoyed her subjects. I just wish the execution was better.
First: Although the book is titled "The Unfinished Palazzo", the content of the book speaks very little to the palazzo itself and, indeed, the palazzo is completed by the second of the three women the book profiles. I understand that the lack of completion when bought by Luisa Casati, the first 20th century female owner profiled here, is what put the palazzo on its trajectory, but it is still an irksome title for the book.
Second: The three women of focus are completely abhorrent, selfish and materialistic social climbers who are wholly unlikable. That said, I try not to conflate unlikable characters and a badly written book.
That said, the book has several flaws that are hard to overlook.
(1) The author makes conclusions about the health and psychiatric state of one of the women--the interjection makes a reader question the author's qualification to speculate on these areas: Mackrell is, afterall, a non-fiction writer and the dance critic for The Guardian. She is not a medical professional. It may be that medical professionals were consulted, but its disconcerting none-the-less. What's more, that type of leap toward a medical diagnosis doesn't really happen with any other figure identified in the book--whether primary or secondary.
(2) The recounting of these biographies feels very tedious and clinical at times. The author could have cut out some of the affairs, or, at the very least, condensed them. This may have also helped with the pacing of the novel.
(3) Somewhat of an extension of #2, the cadence of the novel makes it feel drawling. Understanding that biographies are difficult because you are dealing with the life (or, in this case lives) at hand, rather than a life in a fiction novel where you can create peaks and troughs, I would have liked to feel more rhythm in the stories. Peggy Guggenheim, for example, was frustratingly tedious.
(4) It sometimes felt like the author was consulting a thesaurus; words were unnecessarily complex. What's more, the language felt bloated and, many times, full sentences or paragraphs could have easily been stripped out to make for a more enjoyable read.
(5) There were several spots where the author hopped around in the chronology. I'm sure this was to group thoughts or behaviors, but, if that was the case, the intention was lost because it was jarring to be reading and then realize you were hurled back several years and you needed to reorient yourself in the subject's life.
(6) The author takes several pieces of her own knowledge for granted. There are passages in other languages, for example, that she never bothers to translate into English for the reader--this feels especially odd, since the book was written first in English. Also, some historic figures are mentioned, but not much detail is given about them. I found myself bouncing between the book and the internet trying to do enough research on some obscure name mentioned thinking that it might be significant in the grand scheme of the story: sometimes it was, sometimes it was not.
(7) To this reader, the author makes several projections about what each woman "may have" felt or done. She uses phrases that make it abundantly clear that there is no real evidence for some of the claims, including some affairs, behaviors, reactions, etc. Some passages start off: "One could imagine her...[doing something]." This is agitating and has the added misfortune of undercutting some of the other details of the profile: I found myself frequently asking: "well, how true is that?"
(8) To help make the biographies feel like a more wholly accurate representation of the truth, I would have liked to have seen more excerpts from journals or letters in full, rather than four-to-five word snippets. This may have also helped with the cadence of the book.
Overall, a reader can learn a fair amount from the book--even if he or she is required to supplement nuggets of information with additional research along the way. It's a good primer on early 20th century art. It also adds some alternative perspectives to WWI and WWII. The writer has clearly also done a great deal of research and enjoyed her subjects. I just wish the execution was better.
June 21, 2022
Me ha gustado mucho la manera en la que cuenta las tres historias. Nunca había leído nada parecido a una biografía y la verdad es que me ha sorprendido para bien.
La única pega que le pongo es que, para mí, la segunda historia, la de Doris Castlerosse, no es tan interesante como las otras dos así que queda un poco de relleno.
La única pega que le pongo es que, para mí, la segunda historia, la de Doris Castlerosse, no es tan interesante como las otras dos así que queda un poco de relleno.
February 6, 2018
Much as I love Venice, and though I have been several times to the Guggenheim Collection, I cannot rate this book higher than two stars. I had some slight sympathy for Lusia Casati, but none at all for Doris Castlerosse and Peggy Guggenheim. All three women were self-obsessed, though if Luisa had Asperger's Syndrome there may have been an excuse for her. Doris used her feminine wiles to wend her gold-digging way into the Castlerosse title. Casati was born into immense wealth and squandered a major portion of it on presenting herself as a work of art, hosting outlandisly costly parties while wearing expensive gowns specially designed for each event. Guggenheim was the true monster. She more or less abandoned her children to a former partner and his spouse. She had a whim of iron, starting galleries before moving on to the next new thing. She rented or bought houses at the drop of a hat. She was sexually promiscuous, yet worried that men loved her only for her money, then drowned them in lavish life-styles. Guggenheim at least left an astonishing art collection behind. But it was little comfort to her son and daughter. It was interesting to read about the contemporaries of these women, the poets, writers, artists and ballet masters, as well as the predictable Euro-trash or American and British hangers-on.
August 28, 2021
biografia de uma casa - o inacabado palácio venier dei leoni no canal grande de veneza - escrita através das histórias pessoais das três mulheres que nela habitaram ao longo do século xx: luisa casati (que queria ser uma obra de arte), doris castlerosse (que queria viver como uma obra de arte) e peggy guggenheim (que se quis rodear de obras de arte). fascinante.
March 24, 2018
I started reading this after reading and enjoying the Riviera Set - a book where Doris Castlerosse played a minor role and realising that I had a book featuring her in a central role waiting to be read. And it was a bit of a mixed bag really. Luisa Casati is bonkers but not very engaging to read about, there's not really enough of Doris in it and the same for Peggy Guggenheim.
I've read Mackrell's Flappers, which was a much more enjoyable and engaging read so this was a disappointment to me over all. The timeline felt muddled - I wasn't always sure when we were in history and I think it managed to have both too much detail about some things and too little. The house, which was meant to be at the centre of this, didn't really feature as much as I expected and yet there wasn't enough about the women either. Peggy Guggenheim seems likea total nightamre - but I'd happily read more about her and I feel like I learned as much (may be more) about Doris in the Riviera Set as I did in this.
Interesting to read, but not as satisfying as you want it to be.
I've read Mackrell's Flappers, which was a much more enjoyable and engaging read so this was a disappointment to me over all. The timeline felt muddled - I wasn't always sure when we were in history and I think it managed to have both too much detail about some things and too little. The house, which was meant to be at the centre of this, didn't really feature as much as I expected and yet there wasn't enough about the women either. Peggy Guggenheim seems likea total nightamre - but I'd happily read more about her and I feel like I learned as much (may be more) about Doris in the Riviera Set as I did in this.
Interesting to read, but not as satisfying as you want it to be.
August 24, 2020
My interest in this book was piqued when I saw a review if it somewhere, accompanied by a picture of Peggy Guggenheim reposing in the sun on the roof of the palazzo. I was not to be disappointed. What an incredible story! Three remarkable women inhabited and redecorated this unfinished building, started in 1750 by the prominent Venier family of Venice who subsequently ran out of money and had to abandon it. For a time, it simply fell into decay; only one storey had been completed and it was seen simply as an eyesore. However, when Luisa Casati saw it, she had to have it.
Casati was a wealthy Italian from Milan, who had married Camillo, Marchese Casati Stampa di Soncino, in 1910. According to Mackrell, she started life as an extremely introverted child with a strong social phobia, which she managed to overcome and ended up holding legendary soirées attended by a Who’s Who of the world of arts and letters. Casati was, actually, one of the twentieth century’s earliest celebrities. She dressed in the high fashion of designers Fortuny and Poiret and had her portrait painted, often, by prominent artists, including Augustus John. She hosted Diaghilev, Nijinsky and the Ballets Russes and was photographed by Man Ray. She loved to cultivate an eccentric persona, keeping a small menagerie which included a leashed cheetah and a snake, which she wore draped around her shoulders like a stole. Casati also maintained a long-term relationship with the Italian proto-fascist writer and war hero, Gabriele D’Annunzio.
Casati also lived for a time on the island of Capri, which was then (1919-20) the home of an assorted bunch of gay and lesbian artists and writers, including painter Romaine Brooks, who painted her portrait and had something of an affair with her. Compton Mackenzie wrote about her life there in his diaries.
Eventually, Casati’s extravagant lifestyle caught up with her and she had to flee to England to evade creditors. She lived quietly, in extremely reduced circumstances, her valuable possessions having been auctioned off to pay her debts. She died in 1957.
The palazzo’s next hostess was an equally colourful personality – though for my money, far less interesting. Doris, Lady Castlerosse, only married her husband Valentine, for his title; they divorced with no issue in 1938. She was the owner of the palazzo through the 1930s and she, too, redecorated it and held parties frequented by the notables of the day, who included society photographer Cecil Beaton and playwright Noel Coward. She also enjoyed an ongoing affair with Winston Churchill, who seemed to have remained a friend. However, Doris’s habit of sleeping with anyone she could find who would fund her extravagant lifestyle reduced one contemporary to describing her as “‘a common little demi-mondaine”; effectively, a high-class whore. She was given to coarse language and fighting with her husband in public; this sort of behaviour caused her to “outstay her welcome in Mayfair”. She moved to New York for two years, but, then in her forties, found it much more difficult to find and use wealthy men for her living expenses. Eventually, she was reduced to illegally selling off her diamonds to fund a return trip to England. Arriving there, she had to endure pointed comments about people who leave their country in times of war. Depressed and financially embarrassed, Doris took to drink. One night, probably accidentally, she also took too many sedatives and ended her life.
The palazzo’s final owner was Peggy Guggenheim, niece of Solomon R. Guggenheim, who would establish the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Her father, Benjamin Guggenheim, was lost at sea on the Titanic in 1912.
Peggy began to mix in avant-garde art circles and lived in Paris in the 1920s, meeting many of the luminaries of the day such as Jean Cocteau and the lesbian hostess Natalie Clifford Barney, at whose famous Paris salon mingled the most prominent representatives of the arts of those days. Peggy became close friends with Barney and her lover, Romaine Brooks and also befriended Djuna Barnes, whose novel Nightwood was written at Peggy’s rented house, Hayford Hall, in Devon. Despite knowing many gays and lesbians, it seems Peggy remained straight.
Peggy’s first art venture was a gallery she opened in London and called Guggenheim Jeune. In several exhibitions, this gallery featured the work of Jean Cocteau, Wassily Kandinsky, Yves Tanguy, Antoine Pevsner, Henry Moore, Henri Laurens, Alexander Calder, Raymond Duchamp-Villon, Constantin Brâncuși, Jean Arp, Max Ernst, Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque and Kurt Schwitters. Marcel Duchamp also contributed invaluable help. However, when the gallery made a loss, she reluctantly closed it, planning to relocate to New York.
The outbreak of war changed her plans and she went to Paris, where she discovered that the art market was in free-fall, as fleeing collectors and artists were trying to sell off their works. Peggy bought everything she could, amassing the great collection that would find its way to Venice. Although she went to New York after the war and came to know the new modern American artists such as Jackson Pollock, she eventually relocated to the Palazzo Venier in 1949, establishing her collection there. This became the home of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, maintained now as a museum.
All three of these women had healthy sexual appetites, with the possible exception of Luisa Casati, who managed to string D’Annunzio along by being tantalisingly evasive. D’Annunzio was a womaniser and there was always another mistress in the background, but Casati contributed mystique and intrigue; he nicknamed her “Kore”, one of the names of Persephone, the bride of Hades in Greek myth.
Castlerosse’s main asset was her physical beauty, evidenced in some photographs reproduced in this book. At first she had no trouble snaring wealthy men, but, as she aged, this asset lost its strength. She performed no acts of charity or benefit to society. The only reason to remember her seems to be that she was the great-aunt of contemporary model Cara Delevigne!
The winner – apart from the palazzo, which now has a distinguished identity – was Peggy Guggenheim. Her great legacy lives after her, a solid contribution to Venice and the art world.
Casati was a wealthy Italian from Milan, who had married Camillo, Marchese Casati Stampa di Soncino, in 1910. According to Mackrell, she started life as an extremely introverted child with a strong social phobia, which she managed to overcome and ended up holding legendary soirées attended by a Who’s Who of the world of arts and letters. Casati was, actually, one of the twentieth century’s earliest celebrities. She dressed in the high fashion of designers Fortuny and Poiret and had her portrait painted, often, by prominent artists, including Augustus John. She hosted Diaghilev, Nijinsky and the Ballets Russes and was photographed by Man Ray. She loved to cultivate an eccentric persona, keeping a small menagerie which included a leashed cheetah and a snake, which she wore draped around her shoulders like a stole. Casati also maintained a long-term relationship with the Italian proto-fascist writer and war hero, Gabriele D’Annunzio.
Casati also lived for a time on the island of Capri, which was then (1919-20) the home of an assorted bunch of gay and lesbian artists and writers, including painter Romaine Brooks, who painted her portrait and had something of an affair with her. Compton Mackenzie wrote about her life there in his diaries.
Eventually, Casati’s extravagant lifestyle caught up with her and she had to flee to England to evade creditors. She lived quietly, in extremely reduced circumstances, her valuable possessions having been auctioned off to pay her debts. She died in 1957.
The palazzo’s next hostess was an equally colourful personality – though for my money, far less interesting. Doris, Lady Castlerosse, only married her husband Valentine, for his title; they divorced with no issue in 1938. She was the owner of the palazzo through the 1930s and she, too, redecorated it and held parties frequented by the notables of the day, who included society photographer Cecil Beaton and playwright Noel Coward. She also enjoyed an ongoing affair with Winston Churchill, who seemed to have remained a friend. However, Doris’s habit of sleeping with anyone she could find who would fund her extravagant lifestyle reduced one contemporary to describing her as “‘a common little demi-mondaine”; effectively, a high-class whore. She was given to coarse language and fighting with her husband in public; this sort of behaviour caused her to “outstay her welcome in Mayfair”. She moved to New York for two years, but, then in her forties, found it much more difficult to find and use wealthy men for her living expenses. Eventually, she was reduced to illegally selling off her diamonds to fund a return trip to England. Arriving there, she had to endure pointed comments about people who leave their country in times of war. Depressed and financially embarrassed, Doris took to drink. One night, probably accidentally, she also took too many sedatives and ended her life.
The palazzo’s final owner was Peggy Guggenheim, niece of Solomon R. Guggenheim, who would establish the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Her father, Benjamin Guggenheim, was lost at sea on the Titanic in 1912.
Peggy began to mix in avant-garde art circles and lived in Paris in the 1920s, meeting many of the luminaries of the day such as Jean Cocteau and the lesbian hostess Natalie Clifford Barney, at whose famous Paris salon mingled the most prominent representatives of the arts of those days. Peggy became close friends with Barney and her lover, Romaine Brooks and also befriended Djuna Barnes, whose novel Nightwood was written at Peggy’s rented house, Hayford Hall, in Devon. Despite knowing many gays and lesbians, it seems Peggy remained straight.
Peggy’s first art venture was a gallery she opened in London and called Guggenheim Jeune. In several exhibitions, this gallery featured the work of Jean Cocteau, Wassily Kandinsky, Yves Tanguy, Antoine Pevsner, Henry Moore, Henri Laurens, Alexander Calder, Raymond Duchamp-Villon, Constantin Brâncuși, Jean Arp, Max Ernst, Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque and Kurt Schwitters. Marcel Duchamp also contributed invaluable help. However, when the gallery made a loss, she reluctantly closed it, planning to relocate to New York.
The outbreak of war changed her plans and she went to Paris, where she discovered that the art market was in free-fall, as fleeing collectors and artists were trying to sell off their works. Peggy bought everything she could, amassing the great collection that would find its way to Venice. Although she went to New York after the war and came to know the new modern American artists such as Jackson Pollock, she eventually relocated to the Palazzo Venier in 1949, establishing her collection there. This became the home of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, maintained now as a museum.
All three of these women had healthy sexual appetites, with the possible exception of Luisa Casati, who managed to string D’Annunzio along by being tantalisingly evasive. D’Annunzio was a womaniser and there was always another mistress in the background, but Casati contributed mystique and intrigue; he nicknamed her “Kore”, one of the names of Persephone, the bride of Hades in Greek myth.
Castlerosse’s main asset was her physical beauty, evidenced in some photographs reproduced in this book. At first she had no trouble snaring wealthy men, but, as she aged, this asset lost its strength. She performed no acts of charity or benefit to society. The only reason to remember her seems to be that she was the great-aunt of contemporary model Cara Delevigne!
The winner – apart from the palazzo, which now has a distinguished identity – was Peggy Guggenheim. Her great legacy lives after her, a solid contribution to Venice and the art world.
June 7, 2023
Questo libro merita non 5, 12, 100, un milione di stelle dal tanto che l’ho amato! Un palazzo veneziano, oggi museo Guggenheim, e tre donne che lo hanno abitato e lo hanno portato allo splendore dopo decenni di abbandono.
3 biografie intense, dinamiche, vip, che si intrecciano con le storie di grandissimi nomi del panorama artistico e letterario nazionale e internazionale, tra relazioni, divorzi, amicizie, morti, melanconie e l’inseguimento di grandissime ambizioni.
Tante pagine ma che scorrono velocemente, super consigliato se si cerca qualcosa di nuovo, se si ama l’arte e Venezia.
3 biografie intense, dinamiche, vip, che si intrecciano con le storie di grandissimi nomi del panorama artistico e letterario nazionale e internazionale, tra relazioni, divorzi, amicizie, morti, melanconie e l’inseguimento di grandissime ambizioni.
Tante pagine ma che scorrono velocemente, super consigliato se si cerca qualcosa di nuovo, se si ama l’arte e Venezia.
October 29, 2021
I read this book due to a recommended reading list from lectures on Venice, part of an Italian course. I was quite taken by the origin of the ‘palazzi’ on the Grand Canale. This one on particular, Palazzo Venier, where construction began in 1750, was never completed for various reasons. Just one of the three floors was constructed. It remained in a dilapidated state most of the time. The book focuses on three famous and at times notorious women who lived in it from 1910 to 1979.
The book itself is interesting and well written. What is unsettling are the three women. None are likeable. Using money and/or beauty to get what they wanted, status, style, they come across as self absorbed.
Luisa Casati, born into wealth, was known for throwing the best parties Venice has ever seen and walking around with her pet leopard. She put in basic renovations to the building. The AGO currently owns a well know portrait of her.
Doris Castlerosse, an English socialite, born of modest means aspired to marry a lord. She acquired her wealth through scandalous liaisons and marriage. She made significant renovations and used the palazzo as a luxurious summer salon.
Peggy Guggenheim was the only one with a purpose in life other than lifestyle, collected modern art and supported the art community. However she too was portrayed as using her money to buy friendships and lovers. But she had a vision, to create a space to house her significant art collection. She completely renovated the building into a private residence and a public museum.
Since her death the Palazzo Venier is solely a public museum, Peggy Guggenheim Collection.
The book itself is interesting and well written. What is unsettling are the three women. None are likeable. Using money and/or beauty to get what they wanted, status, style, they come across as self absorbed.
Luisa Casati, born into wealth, was known for throwing the best parties Venice has ever seen and walking around with her pet leopard. She put in basic renovations to the building. The AGO currently owns a well know portrait of her.
Doris Castlerosse, an English socialite, born of modest means aspired to marry a lord. She acquired her wealth through scandalous liaisons and marriage. She made significant renovations and used the palazzo as a luxurious summer salon.
Peggy Guggenheim was the only one with a purpose in life other than lifestyle, collected modern art and supported the art community. However she too was portrayed as using her money to buy friendships and lovers. But she had a vision, to create a space to house her significant art collection. She completely renovated the building into a private residence and a public museum.
Since her death the Palazzo Venier is solely a public museum, Peggy Guggenheim Collection.
April 13, 2024
4 stars more because I enjoyed reading it than because of its actual quality- quite trashy but art world trash so I could trick myself into feeling like it was elevated. Felt the author was very rude and judgemental in places (a suicide being described as gaudy and pretty relentless fatphobia etc etc) but learnt stuff and was entertained
December 29, 2024
The story of the unfinished palace on the Grand Canal, now an important part of Venice and known as the Peggy Guggenheim Collection.
It delves into the lives of its three prominent, once influential, wealthy female owners: Marchesa Luisa Casati, British socialite Doris Castlerosse, and American heiress Peggy Guggenheim. The narrative explores the fascinating intertwining of their fates, their desire to prove themselves in the art scene and to influence the society of their time, and the extraordinary acquaintances each of them had.
Judith Mackrell has done a fantastic job describing the unique atmosphere surrounding each of these remarkable women.
I've listened to part of the book in an audio version narrated by Julia Franklin, and I can highly recommend it.
It delves into the lives of its three prominent, once influential, wealthy female owners: Marchesa Luisa Casati, British socialite Doris Castlerosse, and American heiress Peggy Guggenheim. The narrative explores the fascinating intertwining of their fates, their desire to prove themselves in the art scene and to influence the society of their time, and the extraordinary acquaintances each of them had.
Judith Mackrell has done a fantastic job describing the unique atmosphere surrounding each of these remarkable women.
I've listened to part of the book in an audio version narrated by Julia Franklin, and I can highly recommend it.
December 30, 2023
Me ha encantado conocer mejor a estas tres damas que vivieron en el palazzo Vernier. Tres vidas con muchas similitudes, sobretodo la abundancia de dinero y la fragilidad de Luisa, Doris y Peggy. Vidas fascinantes, ostentosas, excéntricas y a la vez tristes. Muy interesante.
October 17, 2025
Muy interesante como la autora entrelaza la vida de tres mujeres que vivieron en el mismo palazzo. La segunda parte se me hizo un poco larga, y a veces he sentido que repite algunas ideas, pero está bien documentado y es muy extenso.
October 1, 2021
History + Venice + ruined palazzo + unique women who owned it through the 20th century = yes please.
August 15, 2025
He gaudit fort llegint les històries d'aquestes dones, les seves excentricitats i tot el safareig que s'articula al seu voltant. Ara tot el que necessito és un vol a Venècia i passar un dia al Palazzo Venier dei Leoni!
August 19, 2024
Immensely readable and fascinating account of three remarkable women - Luisa Casati, Doris Castlerosse and Peggy Guggenheim - who made the Palazzo Venier in Venice their home. All three of them led sensational lives within the worlds of glamour, art, literature, music and politics - their friends, acquaintances, lovers and enemies form a role call of the great, good and not so good of the 20th century from Gabriele D’Annunzio to Yoko Ono via Winston Churchill. The palazzo is now the Peggy Guggenheim museum.
August 26, 2023
Escrito de una manera impecable.
No me pudieron gustar más las historias de estas tres mujeres.
Ojalá mi próximo viaje sea a Venecia y conocer el Palazzo.
No me pudieron gustar más las historias de estas tres mujeres.
Ojalá mi próximo viaje sea a Venecia y conocer el Palazzo.
June 8, 2025
High-brow fluff that delves into the lives of three rich, fabulous, and eccentric women who defied the gender expectations of the early 20th century. From their love affairs and scandals to their intellectual passions—especially in art—Judith Mackrell’s prose moves with hedonistic finesse, capturing the spirit of a fascinating decade. She brings to life the glamorous parties and the compelling figures these women encountered, particularly at the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, the so-called “Unfinished Palace” in Venice. More than just a residence, the building became a canvas for their fantasies and a reflection of their transformative influence. It ultimately evolved into the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, a museum that continues to embody their legacy. A truly fabulous read!
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